Metering valve



Feb. 14, 1961 c. T. BREITENSTEIN 2,971,361

METERING VALVE Filed May 8, 1957 INV ENT OR.

Charles 17 fir-eierzsz czzz/ BY I fl army States METERING VALVE Charles T. Breitenstein, Chicago, Ill., assignor to Raymond T. Moloney, Chicago, 11].; American National Bank and Trust Company of Chicago, executor of said Raymond T. Moloney, deceased Filed May 8, 1957, Ser. No. 657,878

1 Claim. (Cl. 67-7.1)

This invention relates to valve structures, particularly metering valves, and has as its principal object the provision of improvements in miniature-type metering valves for use in pocket cigarette lighters employing liquefied gaseous fuels, such as butane.

A more particular object is the provision of a valve of the class described operating to meter wet gas, as distinguished from dry gas.

The construction disclosed herein is closely related to that described in US. Patent No. 2,804,763. An important distinction between the two types of valve, however, resides in the fact that the patented metering valve is especially contrived to meter dry gas, whereas the valve disclosed herein is especially adapted to pass so-called wet gas, the two types being mutually exclusive for reasons explained hereafter.

Other aspects of novelty and utility characterizing the invention relate to details of the construction and operation of the embodiment described hereinafter in view of the annexed drawing in which:

Fig. 1 is a side elevation of a pocket lighter;

Fig. 2 is a fragmentary magnified vertical section of the metering-valve section of a pocket lighter;

Fig. 3 is a cross-sectional detail looking along lines 3-3 of Fig. 2;

Fig. 4 is a cross-sectional detail looking in the direction of lines 4 4 of Fig. 2;

Fig. 5 is a fragmentary detail of a modified metering member.

The type of pocket lighter depicted in Fig. l is intended to be charged with liquefied petroleum gas, such as butane, from a cartridge or bulk fuel canister, this fuel being under liquefying pressure of about 80 lb. p.s.i., and being introduced into a chamber 11 contained in the body of the lighter and indicated partially at 11 (Fig. 2), all in a manner well understood in the art.

In operating the lighter, a finger lever 12 (Figs. 1 and 2) is depressed to actuate a known gear mechanism (not shown) to raise the snuifer cap 13 and expose the burner tip 14, and at the same time, through means of a lever 15, to raise said burner tip against the effort of a closing spring 16 and lift a rubber or like sealing poppet 17 from its seat on the top face of the metering valve plug 18, thereby opening the burner valve (i.e. poppet 17) and freeing the fuel for escape from tip 14.

As a further result of the actuation of the finger lever 12, a sparking wheel mechanism (not shown) will be actuated to ignite the escaping fuel at tip 14 in the well-known manner.

In the type of lighter presently described, as well as in that described in the aforesaid patent, the pressurized liquid fuel must be gasified by the time it issues at the burner tip for reliable ignition.

The problem of metering liquefied gas, particularly in the miniaturized valve structures necessary in pocket lighters, has been a very troublesome one in the industry by reason of the fact that butane, propane, and like gases 2 are very thin and at the liquefying pressures they tend to escape from the very finest of orifices and cracks.v

The metering valve disclosed in the patent referred to relies upon the provision of a very small ball working in a soft metal seat down into the mouth of a very fine duct so as to deform the metal around the mouth of the orifice in a certain manner, thereby affording control of the gas fiow.

To be successful, such a metering valve must work with dry gas and to that end it is desirable to provide filters ahead of the valve to absorb all moisture before the gas reaches the ball.

Moisture may be present in the liquefied gas, or it may be condensed in the air upon expansion of the liquid and the accompanying temperature drop.

Whatever the source, moisture almost always causes faulty operation of such lighters and very deliberate precautions are required to dry the gas as it exists at the metering ball.

Faulty operation, as aforesaid, is exemplified by failure of the gas to issue at all from the burner tip on opening of the burner valve; by a fluttering weak flame if the gas does issue and ignite; or by changes in flame size ranging from a small and useless flame to a long, hot, and dangerous flame.

It is not intended herein to appraise the theories pertaining to such erratic flame behavior beyond mentioning the belief that moisture becomes a variable blocking agent in the fine clearances through which the fuel gas must pass.

The expression wet gas operation means that the fuel may be in liquid form at the metering valve and even therebeyond, just so long as it gets a chance to gasify by the time it issues at the burner tip. This expression does not, of course, imply that the fuel in either liquid or gase ous state should have any higher moisture content than such a fuel used in a dry system. I have found that by positively delivering the fuel in liquid state to the ball in a metering valve such as disclosed in the aforemen tioned patent, that wet operation, as defined above, occurs with results which are much more reliable and consistent than is possible even with a dry system operating under favorable conditions.

In producing an etficient wet system, as aforesaid, I have further found a very effective combination of posi tive wet-gas delivery to the metering zone and a coacting means for reliably controlling or metering the liquid passing from said zone, as will now more fully appear.

The metering valve shown in Fig. 2 employs a small, steel ball 20 of about & diameter fitting freely into a lower well 21 in the plug 18 and pressed more or less tightly into a conformed seat at 22, the material of the plug 18 being a soft metal such as brass.

However, unlike the ball in the aforesaid patent, the ball 20 does not deform the fuel orifice, but performs its throttling function by contact with the seat 22 and a contact delivery means such as a wick 28, which engages the ball and delivers wet or liquid fuel to the ball 20 at the metering zone, ie at the contact zone between the ball 20 and seat 22.

This wet-fuel delivery is achieved by providing a skirt 18X in the valve plug which defines the well 21.

A cross-feeding bore 23 (see also Fig. 4) is formed in this skirt with its center approximately in alignment with the center of the ball 20 or like throttling projection or member.

A long wick 28 (Fig. 2) is led serpentine fashion from the fuel chamber 11 up through a passage 29, formed within the body of the lighter 10, opposite the cross-feeding bore 23 and directly across the path of the ball 20, thence out through the portion of bore 23 in the opposite skirt wall.

When the threaded valve stem 25 is turned in, its nose 25A presses the ball 20 into the wick, and initially may separate the wick fibres, or may simply press the main parcel of wick fibres into the seat, until the fibres spread apart, so that two important requirements for a succesfu'l Wet system are met, namely: delivery of wet fuel directly to the ball at the metering zone and contact region with the ball seat; and provision of a suitably fine control constriction in the passage of the fuel past the metering zone for escape as a gas at the tip 14.

In the disclosed construction, the valve plug 18 is provided with an expansion and escape duct 30 com-municating upwardly between the well and the burner valve poppet l7, andthis expansion passage is made rather large in diameter to receive a reducing insert or plug 31 having flatted sides 31X. The purpose of this plug is to enable the use of relatively coarser body drills in f0rming the expansion or escape passage 30, the plug 31alfording sufficient reduction to give an equivalent effect to that of a fine orifice which otherwise would require use of a fine and relatively delicate drill (e.g. #80) such as is employed in forming the orifice passage in the aforesaid patented construction.

By such means a relatively expensive drilling operation is eliminated, as well as pocketing of gas here and resultant flare-up on ignition.

The ball 20 is preferably free in the well 21 and is not captured in the nose 25a of the stem 25, thereby making the throttling adjustments less critical since added control sensitivity is afforded by the coacting wet-delivery wick 28 situated as described.

In the disclosed valve structure, it is possible to achieve useful control for wet delivery by providing a substantially spherical curvature to the nose 25A, as at 25X in Fig. 5, which can press into the cross-feeding wet-delivery wick means 28 in substantially the same manner as the free spherical throttle member 20.

In such case, the radius of curvature should be substantially the same as for the ball 20 for which a radius gives satisfactory results. This somewhat larger diameter, compared with the l milliarnmeter ball employed in the aforementioned patent, also affords manufacturing advantages and economies requiring less fine work and handling of miniscule parts.

Best results are obtained .with the free ball, which is considerably less critical in adjusting the flame size than the alternative integral construction.

The wicking may be round like string or ribbon-likc and may be of asbestos, cotton or like material which is compressible or compactable and which is capable of capillary delivery of the fuel to the throttle element; and while fuel feeds heretofore have employed porous regulators of various materials, such as ceramic and sintered plugs and agglomerates, the present disclosure of a compressible, flexible duct or wick in combination with a throttling member forced against same at a delivery point so as to contact and wet the throttle member and/or the seat therefor, is believed wholly new.

I claim:

A valve structure. for cigarette lighters employing liquefied gaseous fuel and comprising, namely: means providing an effiux passage for the fuelleading to a burner; a means providing a valveseat for a throttle ball interposed in said passage; a throttle ball engageable in said seat; ball adjusting means for pressing and relaxing said ball in said seat; means providing a wick passage directed crosswise of the direction of seating movement of the ball toward the seat and located substantially at the diametric mid-region of the ball; a fuel conducting wick in said passage and divided lengthwise into forking sections to pass around said ball in close contact therewith on opposite sides thereof whereby to deliver wet fuel onto the surface of said ball for ga'sification closely adjacent said seat.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,068,593 Bork Ian. 19, 1937 2,203,284 Moody et al. June 4, 1940 2,732,697 Peterson et a1. Ian. 31, 1956 2,743,597 Newman May 1, 1956 2,804,763 Russell et a1 Sept. 3, 1957 2,836,044 Zellweger May 27, 1958 

